The present invention is a valve or tap for use with a bag made of a material such as flexible plastic material that is adapted to hold a quantity of material therein such as wine. However, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to use with containers of wine since it can be used for containers holding any other material such as orange juice or any other liquid or fluidic material that lends itself for this purpose. A fitment or the sealing flange of the valve body is affixed to the outside of the flexible bag, there being a piercer which is selectively caused to puncture the bag when a cap is manually actuated or moved. The advantage of this construction is that the contents of the bag do not deteriorate because the bag is relatively impervious to oxygen until it is pierced by the user.
It is known that when wine for example is placed in plastic containers, that approximately one-third to one-half of the oxygen uptake of the wine occurs through the valve as a consequence of one punching the membrane of the pouch for filling the pouch or to admit the valve mechanism. The valve mechanism of the present invention precludes the permeation of oxygen through the valve since the pouch is filled as it is being formed, and the valve is located exterior to the pouch.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a valve for a bag wherein when it is desired to dispense a predetermined quantity of the material from the bag, the valve can be operated by pressing manually on a resilient cap with the thumb while holding the fitment between flanges that are conveniently provided thereon. This will push the piercer through the film, and as the piercer is activated, its valve seat moves, allowing fluid to pass through the port and discharge spout. An important advantage of the present invention is that the film is not pierced until the valve is put in use, and this is especially important in wine packaging where oxidation is a problem.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a valve which can be easily operated and can be installed on the exterior of the pouch which assures oxygen impermeability, the valve being ruggedly constructed and relatively simple to manufacture and install automatically on a form/fill/seal machine as well as other machines and in addition be efficient in use.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a valve of such compact design that it can be installed on the pouch of fluidic products, and therefore conveniently and easily be folded into a position inside the box that contains the pouch being in a position convenient to an aperture provided for its use.
Other objects of the invention are to provide a valve for use with a liquid container wherein the valve is relatively inexpensive and disposable and not reusable and wherein there is provided a novel and improved relatively inexpensive construction and arrangement of a piercing valve and liquid outlet. The above and other features and objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the following detailed description and drawings.